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Relaxation Is Just Being Natural

“Total relaxation is the ultimate. That’s the moment when one becomes a buddha. That is the moment of realization, enlightenment, christ-consciousness. You cannot be totally relaxed right now. At the innermost core a tension will persist.

“And that relaxation certainly brings the greatest joy possible, the ultimate in ecstasy, acceptance. You will be full of bliss and rejoicing. Your life will have the quality of dance to it.”

Slow down every process

“But start relaxing. Start from the circumference – that’s where we are, and we can start only from where we are. Relax the circumference of your being – relax your body, relax your behavior, relax your acts. Walk in a relaxed way, eat in a relaxed way, talk, listen in a relaxed way. Slow down every process. Don’t be in a hurry and don’t be in haste. Move as if all eternity is available to you – in fact, it is available to you. We are here from the beginning and we are going to be here to the very end, if there is a beginning and there is an end. In fact, there is no beginning and no end. We have always been here and we will be here always. Forms go on changing, but not the substance; garments go on changing, but not the soul.

“Tension means hurry, fear, doubt. Tension means a constant effort to protect, to be secure, to be safe. Tension means preparing for the tomorrow now, or for the afterlife – afraid tomorrow you will not be able to face the reality, so be prepared.

“Tension means the past that you have not lived really but only somehow bypassed; it hangs, it is a hangover, it surrounds you.

“Remember one very fundamental thing about life: Any experience that has not been lived will hang around you, will persist: ‘Finish me! Live me! Complete me!’ There is an intrinsic quality in every experience that it tends and wants to be finished, completed. Once completed, it evaporates; incomplete, it persists, it tortures you, it haunts you, it attracts your attention. It says, ‘What are you going to do about me? I am still incomplete – fulfill me!’

Your body listens to you

“And you will be surprised that if you approach any part of your body, it listens, it follows you – it is your body! With closed eyes, go inside the body from the toe to the head searching for any place where there is a tension. And then talk to that part as you talk to a friend; let there be a dialogue between you and your body. Tell it to relax, and tell it, ‘There is nothing to fear. Don’t be afraid. I am here to take care – you can relax.’ Slowly slowly, you will learn the knack of it. Then the body becomes relaxed.”